Let's say you're on the crew of a movie about a family of vampires -- but the Cullens aren't just any run-of-the-cemetery vamps. True, they crave human blood. But they control their urges, feeding on animals instead. In fact, these vampires are the most cultured, classiest folks around.

How to convey that on film? Enter the Cullen family crest, a regal coat of arms featuring a hand, lion, shamrocks and a chevron. Look closely at "Twilight," the first in the series of movies adapted from Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster novels about the romance between Bella, a human girl, and Edward, a drop-dead handsome vampire. There's the crest, popping up on jewelry belonging to members of the Cullen family. Edward wears it on a leather wristband, Alice on a ribbon choker, Rosalie as a bold necklace. And so on.

Those convincingly antique-looking pieces were actually made in Portland, by Artisan's Designs, a three-person team working out of a funky downtown office building. The business, which owner Rick Thurber has operated for about 18 years, specializes in jewelry repair and custom jewelry design.

On a typical workday during the week, you'd hardly think Artisan's Designs was part of a phenomenon of "Twilight"-sized proportions. The studio is at 732 S.W. Third Avenue, across the street from the Southeast corner of Pioneer Place. An operator takes building tenants and visitors up in a creaky elevator. Ring the bell at Artisan's Designs studio, and Thurber, a fit 54-year-old, lets you in while his white Jack Russell terrier, Casper, jumps up on your leg in tail-wagging greeting.

Past the tiny reception area is a workroom where Kelli Alton, 47, and Randy Estes, 46, labor on the detail work required to repair and create jewelry by hand. Both Alton and Estes are goldsmiths who work with Thurber, a 38-year-jewelry veteran who followed his father's footsteps into the business.

Artisan's Designs has a gallery in White Salmon, Wash., but the Portland studio is all business, with no glitzy storefront. In a series of rooms outfitted with the necessary equipment, the team goes through the process to repair and make custom jewelry. For custom designs, the process starts with a wax model mold, melting and pouring precious metals into the mold to cast the piece, then finishing with setting gemstones and polishing.

So how did this down-to-earth operation become part of the starry "Twilight" universe? "Twilight" was doing a large portion of its filming in and around Portland in early 2008. According to "Twilight: The Illustrated Movie Companion," the filmmakers dreamed up the Cullen family crest to illustrate the philosophy of vampire paterfamilia Dr. Carlisle Cullen, "that he and his fellows are not monsters but an evolved species." The Cullen crest was created, in the words of the film's director, Catherine Hardwicke, as "a coat of arms that relates to perpetuity and danger and courage."

Working with initial drawings by the film's costume designer, the prop master followed through and contacted the team at Artisan's. To this day, Thurber doesn't know how his shop came to their attention. He assumes the crew asked around and heard about Artisan's ability to do quality work on a tight deadline -- a must in the movie business.

"We heard from them in February 2008, and they said, 'Hey, we're making a movie here, can you do the work in this amount of time?'" Thurber recalls. "Movie people can be kind of pushy. They want everything yesterday."

Thurber and his team were happy to take on the challenge of turning drawings provided by the filmmakers into actual jewelry. But they had no idea of the cultural phenomenon they were becoming part of.

"I never heard of 'Twilight,'" Thurber recalls. At the time the movie was filming in Portland, Meyer's books were an obsession among teenagers. But they weren't yet the generations-spanning pop-culture juggernaut they are now.

So for Thurber, Alton and Estes, crafting the Cullen family crest pieces in silver was just another job.

"We weren't thinking it was going to be as big as this," Alton says.

"No clue," Estes agrees.

"We kind of thought the movie was going to go to video," Alton adds with a laugh. "I mean, vampires?"

That initial contact from the film crew has turned into an ongoing relationship. The Portland jewelry designers created pieces for "New Moon," the next chapter in the "Twilight" saga, which opened Friday. They also made jewelry for "Eclipse," the third movie adaptation, scheduled to open June 30, 2010.

Though "New Moon" and "Eclipse" were filmed in Vancouver, B.C., Artisan's Designs remained the go-to shop for Cullen crest pieces, along with other designs. All told, Thurber estimates they've created close to 75 pieces for the first three "Twilight" movies. Not only did they make jewelry for the actors playing the Cullens, but also duplicates for the actors' stunt doubles.

For "New Moon," they also created an elaborate crest for the Volturi, an ancient coven regarded as the royal family of vampires. The design appears in "New Moon," on the chairs in the Volturi Castle.

Stores such as Hot Topic sell licensed reproductions of the Cullen crest pieces, among other "Twilight"-themed merchandise. Artisan's Designs, however, doesn't get a cut of those proceeds.

But Thurber has the original molds and retains the right to create individual silver pieces for customers. While a mass-produced Cullen crest ring might sell for about $20 at Hot Topic, Artisan's handmade silver versions cost from $200 to $300.

"Teenage 'Twilight' fans don't have that much money to spend," Thurber says. But Artisan's Designs has made and sold about a dozen pieces for customers across the U.S., and in Italy and France.

Despite "Twilight" taking off, Thurber says he didn't raise his prices for making the Cullen family crest jewelry.